An Old Orchard Beach man escaped from his malfunctioning pickup truck moments before it was hit by a southbound Amtrak passenger train on the Union Avenue railroad crossing Wednesday evening.
The collision forced authorities to suspend service on the Downeaster rail line, which connects Boston with Portland and Brunswick.
A message posted on Amtrak’s website at 9 p.m. said Train 688, which was heading to Boston, would be delayed about 3 hours because of the crash. That train left Brunswick at 5:20 p.m. and was scheduled to arrive in Boston’s North Station at 8:45 p.m.
The accident also delayed Train 689, which was scheduled to leave Boston at 10:30 p.m., by 30 minutes or possibly longer.
Old Orchard Beach police Sgt. Gerard Hamilton said Carson Filiault, 23, was backing out of his driveway on First Street when the engine in his 2005 Nissan pickup truck started to rev after he put it in reverse. He was unable to stop the truck, which crossed First Street, went over an embankment and landed on the train tracks.
Hamilton said that Filiault told police he jumped out of the truck seconds before the train slammed into it.
If Filiault had been in the truck when the collision occurred, he most likely would have been killed. “The vehicle was completely destroyed,” Hamilton said.
Amtrak reported the collision to police around 6:30 p.m.
Hamilton said the Downeaster was heading south at the time. None of the passengers was hurt, Hamilton said. Filiault suffered minor cuts and bruises and was taken to Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford as a precaution.
The Union Avenue railroad crossing in Old Orchard Beach has been the scene of at least two train crashes since 2014.
In March 2014, police said a man committed suicide by stepping in front of a passing Downeaster train. Police told the Portland Press Herald that the victim parked his car near the crossing before walking in front of the southbound train. Witnesses told police that the man appeared to be waiting for the train, which was carrying 15 passengers.
One year later, the driver of an SUV was arrested and charged with drunken driving after he crashed his vehicle into a northbound Amtrak train at the same location during the early-morning hours. A passenger in the vehicle, which was driven by Brendan Connolly, was ejected and suffered serious injuries.
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